[Mel]

Good job Consistency pays off!

Mel

[marbleflys]

Thank you! I feel terrific.

[jiffypop]

glad to see that this thread got bumped up... i needed the refresher. earlier this week, while i was walking the dog or hiking or bike riding or something, i was wondering how much i DO actually exercise, and i started to add it up.

fell short on several days

i NEVER move less than 30 minutes. never never never. but that's not enough.

two dog walks a day: morning and after work. one of them is generally a hike. each is at least 30 minutes. and if i have to cut the AM walk short [late again!!!], i make it up in the evening.

and i try to ride my <new bright yellow bike!!!> at least 30 minutes after walking the dog. sometimes it's an hour, depending on the time and the weather. this happens at least 3 times per week. but i'm not perfect.

and then 60-90 minutes of weights 2-3 times a week. that's the goal. some weeks are better than others

there's no doubt about it: i've had to completely re-engineer my life around this. i have to leave work on time. and arrange for care for the alzheimer's mom so i can get away and do this. someone from her church has to bring her home after services so i can go to the gym [riding my bike both ways]. doc appts, social engagements, errands, everything, has to be scheduled around my exercise time.

it takes more focus than i want to devote to ANYTHING. but i CANNOT AND WILL NOT go back to weigh 500 pounds again. this is the price. the alternative is too terrible to contemplate.

[marbleflys]

I've worked my way to 4.5 hours last week (that's not counting the dog-walks...he stops and smells every 3 inches)

This week I'm shooting for 4 hours and 45 mins.....it's week 6 of being consistent and I am getting small rewards in the waistline.

[lessofsarahtolove]

Hello, all!

Just wanted to bump this up to the top again as I have found it just so motivating and empowering! As I write this, I'm just 3 days out of my last chemo treatment, after 6 months of high dose chemo. To say that I'm thrilled to be in remission just doesn't even begin to cover it, as you can imagine. Any word I think of simply rings inadequate. On the down side, here I am on the other side of 6 months of inactivity and steroid-related weight gain (yes, I did eat!) and I'm saddled with this exhausted, weak, flabby and considerably heavier body. One challenge down, another to face! Before my diagnosis, I had lost about 80 pounds in 8 months, by concentrating on great eats and exercising hard. I was making real progress, and then had to switch gears when I got blindsided by my diagnosis.

My doc has me taking 8-10 weeks to rebuild my strength, and guess what I'll be focusing on the most? Yep, EXERCISE. Lifting weights, walking, swimming, pilates, and cycling. Physically, the chemo has put me wayyyy behind where most of you guys are now, and I'm planning on doing 50-60 minutes right out of the gate -- by BREAKING IT UP INTO LITTLE PIECES. That's the only way I'll get it done. And I'm just going to have to build it up gradually, adding a few minutes at a time. It's my new priority -- my new medicine. To me, it's totally non-negotiable, just as going to chemo was non-negotiable. I've got a whole exercise schedule put together for the entire period, with each week building on the previous week. I don't know yet how strenuously I'll be able to work out......but I DO know I'll be logging the time.....10-20 minutes at a time. I've also got my back at work exercising planned, and I've scheduled 90 minutes a day when I'm back at work full time.

Back when I was losing weight so well, I did it through breaking down all the seemingly insurmountable goals into manageable increments, concentrating on SOLUTIONS, and then figuring out how to make them happen. So 90 minutes a day can sound impossible, but 30 minutes before work, 20 minutes at lunch, 15 minutes on an afternoon break, and 25 minutes after work may sound more feasible. Or doing 70 minutes on average on workdays, and adding more on your days off! It's either a priority to you, or it isn't. Like everything related to weight loss, it all boils down to choice.

There's an awful lot of veteran wisdom in this thread ~ nods to Mel, Meg, MrsJim, Ilene, and Jiffy here ~ thank you all for sharing your encouraging words and giving me energy and inspiration!

[Jenaya]

Wonderful thread and just what I needed today. Thanks for all the good advice.

[Betani]

Recently, I've started going to bed a little earlier, so I can get up earlier and do my workout when I wake up instead of after work. It's amazing how much more time I seem to have in the rest of the day that way, and when I go for walks in the evening, I can enjoy them more now that I don't have to worry about spending a lot of time at it.

[Meg]

Sarah!! How wonderful to hear from you again!

You've had to focus on something a lot more important than weight loss over the past six months, but now you can ease (please note the use of the word EASE - as in easy - as in take it easy – OK?) back into your healthy eating and exercising groove.

While you were gone, I got my personal trainer certification (me, a PT – can you believe it?? ) and one of the things I learned in my studies is that exercise is just as effective when you break it up into smaller chunks as when you do it all at once. So your plan to break up your exercise into little pieces is perfect and you’ll still get all of its wonderful benefits.

Don’t be discouraged if the little bits and pieces are really small at first – like only five or ten minutes. Any exercise is better than none and it will all come back to you soon enough. Listen to your body, please, and rest when you’re tired. You and that bod of yours have been through a whole heck of a lot over the past year - between weight loss and then cancer - and you’ve got lots more adventures to come. I can’t wait to watch your progress!

Welcome back, sweetie!

[lessofsarahtolove]

Oh, Meg, you made me cry! I even had my partner Lorraine read it (when she heard me sniffling and asked me why) and lo and behold -- some tears there, too!

You're a real sweetheart, and I was thrilled and grateful to read your supportive counsel!

Hey now, a huge to you on the PT certification!! Excellent news!! Those folks in Pittsburgh are very, very lucky, I'd say. They probably won't feel so lucky when they're nursing along their aching, recovering muscles -- but darned if they won't be loving you afterwards!

It really was great to hear from you, and I appreciate your encouragement more than you know.